Method

Pop a half-litre of water in a large pot and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and add the polenta whilst stirring constantly and cook until the polenta becomes thick and has lost its grainy texture, around 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk half the butter into the polenta until dissolved, taste, and season with salt and pepper as needed.

While the polenta is cooking clean the scallops by removing the little black muscle running around the side, make sure the scallops are dry by patting them with kitchen paper. Season them generously with salt and pepper.

Bring together the chopped chilli and chervil in a small bowl and add around 50ml of olive oil.

Take a non-stick pan large enough to hold all the scallops side by side and place on a high heat on the stove. When the pan is really hot (almost smoking) add the remaining butter and the scallops, reduce the heat to medium/high and cook until golden in color, flip them over and repeat for the other side. Remove the pan from the heat, place the scallops onto a clean plate and allow to rest.

The polenta should be oozy and runny, if it has thickened add a little water while stirring until you can just pour it from a spoon.

Spoon a little of the polenta onto the plates and arrange the scallops on the polenta. Put a little slice of lardo on each scallop and drizzle the chilli and chervil oil over the top, finish with cracked pepper and serve immediately.